Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Nobody Wants To Hear It…

Yesterday I was doing carpool duty after school, working diligently at the crosswalk alongside one of our middle school administrators. He asked how I was doing, to which I gave my usual reply- “Can’t complain!” (This reply is my now-standard little reminder to myself that life is all good. But that’s another story.)

He replied that he liked that answer, and I explained to him a bit about my theory that life is good and I don’t have anything to complain about. His reply to me has really had me thinking over the last day. He said “You know, I always tell myself ‘I could complain, but nobody really cares. Nobody wants to hear it.’ “ I liked what he said, but the more I've ruminated on it, I’ve taken it to heart.

As cold as it sounds, it’s true. I mean, I think we’ve all been around the person who complains all the time. And even if it’s not the person who complains all the time, we’ve all been in a situation where we are stuck listening to someone drone on and on about everything wrong with their day. And come on, let’s be honest. You don’t want to hear it. Nobody does. Most people are probably too busy waiting for the complainer to finish so that they can talk about what they want to complain about! Do you really want to be either of the people in that scenario?

My co-worker was right. I could complain. I could sit and feel sorry for myself, and tell everyone about the bad things that happened in my day or focus on the tiny details that a didn’t go my way today. We can all complain about traffic, or burned coffee, or being tired, or a host of other things. Sometimes it’s pretty tempting to get on here and tell you guys about a couple things I don’t adore. But… you don’t want to hear it. And in the end, it doesn’t help anyone, it doesn’t benefit anything, and it doesn’t make anyone’s life better. So why bother?

So next time you feel the urge to complain, just remind yourself…nobody wants to hear it.

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